Yesterday was one of those days at work when I was busy from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm and I finally hit the road. No lunch, no break. I was happy that over the weekend daughter #1 had showed me how to sync my phone and use Amazon Prime to play music in my car, so I listened to Steve Earle on the way home.
This song made me happy:
Enjoy your day!
Well, I bought our wreath from the Boy Scouts, our two trees from the Optimists and daughter #1 and I put up the outside Christmas lights. Mission(s) accomplished!
Quelle busy weekend, but, in fact, very fun. We babysat the wee babes on Friday night and managed to wrestle them into their pajamas and bed. On Saturday, daughter #1 and I went to our church Christmas bazaar and cookie sale where I got a few used books and rescued a treasure or two.
Then we went to the birthday party for the wee babes who were, it turned out, not in the mood for a big noisy party. They both suffered major melt-downs from the get-go. C’est la vie.
They are both teething ferociously and life is hard right now. Well, on to Christmas and more photo ops.
We came home and watched Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and drank wine and had a chip-fest. Perfect. We even watched one of the special features and found out, among other fun facts, that Edmund Gwenn really filled in as Santa at the 1946 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, including addressing the crowd following the parade. That is pretty cool.
Church on Sunday was Advent I and we sang some good Advent hymns.
Turn up the volume and listen to this wonderful rendition of a great Charles Wesley hymn!
And the super moon was really awesome!
Happy Advent!
*Hymn #57
It’s December and the pre-Christmas mayhem has begun, but I’m not letting any of that get to me. Nope. This year, I’m just going to enjoy everything. I might even start playing Christmas music today. There’s no big trick to maintaining the Christmas spirit. Just remind yourself of what’s most important — the birth of Jesus — and choose to celebrate that every day.
Keep it simple.
Don’t compete with the neighbors, and try not to get annoyed if they go overboard. Even so, no amount of neighborly love obligates you to help put up or take down their excessively ornate decorations.
Holiday Decorations in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn — Image by © Andria Patino/Corbis
If the light shines into your bedroom window and prevents you from falling asleep, it’s okay to ask them nicely to turn off the lights at midnight. You might mention that doing so will reduce the electric bill 🙂
Don’t stress over Christmas presents. It really IS the thought that counts. Most people just want to know they’re loved and that you think about them. They don’t expect you to come up with that one, perfect present every year. Ask yourself what gift would improve the other person’s life, and get that. Socks and a heartfelt card may be just the thing.
Cultivate repose. Find the time to read some poetry and contemplate the season. Let’s start with “December Stillness” from Siegfried Sassoon.
December stillness, teach me through your trees
That loom along the west, one with the land,
The veiled evangel of your mysteries.
While nightfall, sad and spacious, on the down
Deepens, and dusk embues me where I stand,
With grave diminishings of green and brown,
Speak, roofless Nature, your instinctive words;
And let me learn your secret from the sky,
Following a flock of steadfast-journeying birds
In lone remote migration beating by.
December stillness, crossed by twilight roads,
Teach me to travel far and bear my loads.
We all carry a load and have far to go, but if you remember what we’re celebrating, you’ll find your burden isn’t so heavy and the distance not so long.
I’m off to bake some banana bread to take to the “greening of the church” party this afternoon. Then I’ll do some Christmas shopping and some decorating around the house. Tomorrow we’ll go to church and to buy our Christmas tree. I think it’s going to be a lovely weekend!
Boy, this week whizzed by, didn’t it? I am really looking forward to the weekend. The OM and I are babysitting tonight for the wee babes and then we are celebrating their first birthday a little early on Saturday. Daughter #3 has poured her creative powers into planning this party.
(I might be rolling my eyes just a little bit…)
As far as Christmas shopping goes, I am in pretty good shape and will spend some time this weekend getting things organized in my off-limits gifts closet. I will endeavor to get the outside Christmas lights up and maybe, if the weather is nice, I can convince the OM to go with me to buy Christmas trees.
Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent, but Advent Lessons and Carols are not until next weekend at my church.
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
It may be time to break out the Christmas DVDs this weekend as well. Speaking of movies, last night I got to see a movie on TCM that I have wanted to see for years and years–Wee Geordie (1955), a British film starring Bill Travers in the title role as a Scotsman who becomes an athlete and competes in the hammer throw in the Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.
I remember my mother telling me about this movie when I was young. She had seen it back in the 1950s and loved it, largely because it was filmed in Scotland and the scenery is awesome. It is similar to The Quiet Man (“What The Quiet Man does for Ireland…Wee Georgie does for the Scots…”) in that it is filled with eccentric, lovable characters who live in an idyllic small village. Bill Travers plays the adult Geordie who has spent years following a body-building regimen and becomes a strapping 6′ 6″ specimen, coached by the local minister in the art of hammer throwing. He is very appealing.
And, boy, he looked great in a kilt! Well, if you ever get a chance to see it, do so! I loved it.
Have a great weekend!
dual personalities 